“So am I,” said Mike. Paul said nothing. He meant to go on until he found his men. He did not seem to be tired, though he looked it. Jack thought he was a very plucky boy indeed, for he was younger and smaller than the other two, and yet managed to keep up with them very well.

Jack stopped again and motioned to the others to listen. They stood still, and heard voices once more. Up a tree they went at once, but this time the voices did not come any nearer. Paul suddenly went red with excitement. He leaned towards Jack, who was on the branch next to him.

“Jack! I think that is Pilescu’s deep voice. Listen!”

They all listened, and through the forest came the deep tones of Pilescu’s voice, without a doubt. In a trice the boys had shinned down the tree again and were running down the path towards the voices.

They came out into a small clearing. In the middle of this there was a hole, or what looked like a hole from where the boys stood. Across the top of the hole were laid heavy beams of wood, separated each from the other by a few inches, to allow air to penetrate into the hole.

It was from this hole or pit that the voices came. Mike took a quick look round the clearing to see if anyone was there. But it seemed to be completely empty. He ran across to the pit.

“Ranni! Pilescu?” he cried, and Paul tried to force apart the heavy logs of wood.

“Ranni! Are you there? Pilescu, are you hurt?” cried Paul, in a low voice.

There was an astonished silence, and then came Ranni’s voice, mingled with Pilescu’s.

“Paul! Little lord! What are you doing here? Paul, can it be you?”

“Yes — I’m here and Mike and Jack,” said Paul. “We have come to rescue you.”

“But how did you get here?” cried Ranni, in amazement. “Did you come through the mountain and down the river into the depths of the Secret Forest?”

“Yes,” said Mike. “It has been a tremendous adventure, I can tell you.”

“Are you all all right?” asked Pilescu.

“Yes, except that we’re awfully hungry,” said Jack, with a laugh.

“If you can move those logs, with our help, we will give you food,” said Ranni. “We have some here in this pit. The robbers put bread and water here, and we have plenty. Goodness knows what they meant to do with us. I suppose they captured us because they knew we had found the secret of their coming and going, and did not want us to tell anyone.”

The boys began to try and move the heavy logs. Ranni and Pilescu helped them. They shifted little by little, though it was as much as the whole five of them could do to move them even an inch! At last, however, there was enough space for Ranni and Pilescu to squeeze out of the pit, and haul themselves up on to the level ground.

They sat there panting. “Not a nice prison at all,” said Ranni, jokingly, as he saw tears in Paul’s eyes. The boy had been very anxious about his two friends, and now that he had Ranni’s arm about him again, he was so relieved he felt almost like crying.

“Funny boy, isn’t he!” whispered Mike to Jack. “So awfully brave, and yet he cries like a girl sometimes.”

“We’d better hide quickly,” said Ranni. “The robbers may come back at any moment and we don’t want them to find us all here. They would have five prisoners then, instead of two! Let’s push the logs back exactly as they were, Mike. It will puzzle the robbers to know how we escaped, when they see that the logs have apparently not been moved!”

It was easy to shift the logs back into position for now Ranni and Pilescu were able to use the whole of their strength, instead of being hindered by being in a deep pit. They finished their task and then went to discuss their next move under some thick bushes at the edge of the clearing.

They had a good view of the path from there and could see anyone coming, though they themselves could not be seen. They sat down and talked earnestly. Jack told the two Baronians all that had happened, and they were amazed.

“Shall we try and get back home the way we came?” asked Mike. “Perhaps that would be best.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Ranni. “Once the robbers discover that we are gone, they will be on the look-out for us, and probably men will be guarding the way back, ready to take us again.”

“Well, what else is there to do?” asked Paul, impatiently.

“Let us think carefully, little lord,” said Ranni. “Can there be any other way out of this Secret Forest, so well-hidden within the great Killimooin Mountains?”

Everyone was silent. It was quite impossible to climb the surrounding mountains, even if they could make their way through the depths of the forest towards them.

Jack spoke at last. “Ranni, where do you suppose this river goes to? It must go somewhere. If it was penned up in this valley, it would make a simply enormous lake, and it doesn’t do that, or we should have seen it from the air, when we flew over.”

Ranni sat and thought. “It must go somewhere, of course,” he said. “Maybe it finds its way underground, as it did in the mountain. You think perhaps it would be a good idea to follow the river, Jack, and see if we can float away on it, maybe through a tunnel in one of the mountains, to the other side.”

“We could try,” said Jack, doubtfully. “We could go back to the queer beehive-like houses tonight and see if our raft is still there. If it is, we could board it and go off on the river. The river won’t take us backwards, that is certain, so we shall have to go forwards with it!”

“Well, we will try that,” said Ranni, though he did not sound very hopeful. “Let us eat now, shall we? You must, as you said, be very hungry.”

The Baronians had brought the bread with them from the pit. All five began to eat, thinking of the adventure that lay ahead. Pilescu looked at the three boys. He saw that they were worn out.

“We will find a good hiding-place and rest there,” he said to Ranni. “We shall need to be fresh for tonight. Come, then. I will carry Paul. He is already half asleep!”

But before they could creep away, they heard the sound of voices, and saw three or four robber-women coming down the path, carrying pitchers of water and more bread! They had evidently come to bring food to the prisoners. Very silently the five vanished into the trees.

The women went to the pit and placed the food and water beside it. They had apparently been told to take it there and leave it, so that the men could hand it down to the prisoners when they came later, and could move the logs a little apart. It was beyond the women’s strength to move them.

The women peered curiously between the logs, and were amazed when they could not see the prisoners. They chattered together excitedly and then peered down again. It was dark in the pit, but even so, they should have been able to catch sight of the two men. Had not the children been to see them that morning and come back with tales of their fierce shouts and cries, their fiery red hair and beards? Then why could not these things be seen and heard now?

The women became certain that the prisoners were not there. Yet how could they have escaped? The logs were still across the mouth of the pit, and no men could move those without help from outside! It was a mystery to them. Chattering loudly, they fled away back to the robber encampment to tell the news. They left the food and water beside the empty pit.

As soon as the women had gone, Ranni slipped out of his hiding-place and went to the pit. He took the bread and ran back to the others.

“This may be useful!” he said. He tied a leather thong around it, and hung it at his back. It was a flat, round loaf, easy to carry.

“Now we will find a good hiding-place,” said the big Baronian. Pilescu picked up Paul in his arms and the two men strode away into the forest to find a safe hiding-place to rest until night came.